As little leaguers, we all dreamed of taking the field and playing in the big leagues. We imagined what it would be like to hear our name called over the PA system and hear the ovation of adoring fans as we took the field to live out their dreams. Some people were naturally blessed with the size and speed to become a professional baseball player and others spent years working towards that goal, trying to perfect little elements to make them more suitable for the game at the ultimate level. They had a dream and they sold out to that dream, never allowing obstacles to stop them in their pursuit.

Paul Byrd was one of the latter types who would break into Major League Baseball. Told by some that he would never make it, he pressed forward to prove them wrong and live the dream that the Lord had planted in his heart. Through patience and perseverance, Paul would reach the highest level and along that journey, he reached an even higher place in life as he came to know Christ as his Lord and Savior. I recently caught up with Paul at the Cleveland Indians Spring Training in Winter Haven, Florida so I could hear his story first-hand.

His Life
Paul was born in 1970 in Louisville, Kentucky. After playing baseball in high school, he went on the Louisiana State University and was a pitcher on their College World Series team in 1991. He loved the game of baseball and continued to pursue it after being drafted by the Cleveland Indians.

Q â€" Tell me your testimony.“I can’t give anybody a date (on when I was saved). I was the guy between 1990 and 1991 who said the prayer like twenty-five times and I just couldn’t figure out why I kept sinning, you know, having a lot of problems and the same struggles and issues that I had before I was a Christian. I thought the prayer was going to be magical and I was going to walk like Jesus right after that so I was pretty hard on myself. I even baptized myself in Double A thinking maybe it was baptism. Eventually, God just put on my heart, “Hey, relax. You’re a Christian and it bothers you when you do something wrong and you’re going to need Jesus from here through eternity because you’re not Him. You’re not perfect.â€? It was a transition for me just to realize that…it took me a couple of years just to get it.â€?

Q â€" Were you ever a prodigal son?“Oh yeah. I think we all go through those periods. It might happen tomorrow; it might not. It’s definitely happened in the past, but the bottom line is that our Father is always there and He uses our mistakes to bring us closer to Him.â€?

Q â€" When was the time in your life when you felt God was most distant?“Before I was a Christian, I do remember feeling empty and I couldn’t get God off of my heart. You know that verse in revelation says, “Behold I stand at the door and knockâ€? and I felt like He was just knocking on me all the time because I just felt like I knew what was right. The first time somebody shared the gospel with me was at a Crusade for Christ and I thought the guy was in a cult. I thought, “This guy is way too into itâ€?. I just thought the Bible was a good book and Jesus was a good person and all this, but it really challenged me to start picking up the Bible. It was a great feeling of emptiness being exposed after hearing the gospel and the next couple of years were pretty tough for me and I just couldn’t get away.â€?

Q â€" When was the time in your life that you felt closest to God?
“Scripturally, I always knew God was right there with me. He was inside me so I couldn’t get any closer to Him. When my first son was born, I think then I understood the gospel more. I think I understood grace and how much you love somebody just because they’re yours and not because of their performance, cause we get graded on performance all the time. The world’s about performance but the gospel’s not. The gospel’s about son ship. Jesus says whoever believes in me, I give them the right to become children of God. When He was ascending, He says I am going to My Dad and your Dad. I really got that when my oldest son was born because I looked at him and I loved that dude like crazy. He had done nothing but I loved him because he was mine. I just looked at that guy and it was like something changed in me and I realized that God would accept me and love me regardless, as His kid.�

His Sport

With baseball being America’s pastime, I was anxious to ask a player who has spent over a decade in the Big Show many different questions about his career as well as the game itself.

Q â€" What about the Cleveland Indians in 2007?
“I like our chances a lot. We have the talent; we just didn’t play well together last year. You have to have a certain level of talent. You have to have a certain amount of players that are good players, but the best players don’t always win the World Series, you know, or the Yankees would win it every year because they have an All-Star team. It’s the team that plays the best together. We have good enough players to do that but we just have to play better together. Last year was tough for us but I like our chances in `07.�

As we have all seen over the last couple of years, baseball has been the source of much criticism for the apparent wide-spread use of steroids by its’ players. Very seldom have we heard from someone inside the circle, so I decided to ask Paul about the most controversial topic in the world of sports today.

Q â€" I hate to ask this, but with the whole steroid issue, how does baseball get beyond it?“That’s a tough question because I don’t know. I’ve been through the strike which was horrible and left a black eye on baseball and it just seems like every couple of years there’s something. I think it’s going to take the fans to realize that the testing that Major League Baseball has in place is the same as the Olympics. It is strict and the guys you see out on the field, they’re drug-free. I think people need to realize that.â€?

On that topic, Paul said that he also felt that it was the job of Major League Baseball and the players to tell people about the strict policy in place in the sport. He also told me that last year alone, he was tested at least four times and that Major League Baseball has a copy of player’s home addresses and can test players during the off season. After he shed light on the subject, you could see where the media has been misleading on the subject in the past, leaving people to believe that the MLB testing policy was some sort of joke.

Q â€" Out of all of your years in baseball, what was your top moment?
“It was the All-Star game in 1999. I made the All-Star team and I watched the McGwire, Sosa, and Ken Griffey home contest and my son, who was two and a half or three at the time, was sitting on my lap and we were ten feet away from home plate. We were watching McGwire hit fifteen in a row over the green monster in Fenway. I thought, “No matter what I do, it will never top this.��

Q â€" What is the toughest part of being a Christian and being in Major League Baseball?
“The toughest part is, if you have kids, the time away from your family. I’ve missed my kids’ first steps, the first bike rides, and when I’m out of town a lot, I sometimes wonder if it’s worth it. If you’re single, it’s the greatest job in the world.�

Q â€" What is the best part of being a Big League Baseball player?“I love competing on the field. I just love trying to figure out how to get this guy out in a chess match. You’re just doing what you love since you were a little kid. I just feel blessed to be here and be able to compete.â€?

His Advice

Paul and I shared similar interests, baseball and writing, and I asked him a few opinion questions to see what his viewpoint would be. For each question, Paul paused a moment to think about his answers, showing me that he took seriously his response.

Q â€" What is the biggest problem facing Christian men today?“There are so many things. The Bible says a righteous man falls seven times and gets up seven times. I think the biggest problem for Christian men is not getting up, because this world is going to knock you down. There’s pornography, money, getting selfish…sin is so easily accessible. I think when guys don’t walk with God and they fall, they get into a pattern of just giving up, becoming apathetic, and not fighting.â€?

Q â€" What is your favorite Bible passage and why?“You know, it kind of rotates. I guess my favorite one is the one that I mentioned earlier. John 1:12 where Jesus says that yet to all who receive Him, believe in His name, He gave them the right to become children of God. I just think that is so cool. That’s the gospel. You get to become God’s kid and Jesus paved the way.â€?

Q â€" What advice do you give to young baseball players?
“Follow your heart. Don’t believe the people that say you can’t do it. You follow your heart and God will shut the door when He wants to shut the door. Don’t listen to anyone who says you can’t do it. I was in high school and I had a coach tell me my sophomore year that I would never play Division I college baseball and I needed to just get my education, which is true because you need to get your education. The point was, not even knowing he was doing it, he was killing my dreams. There was something that went off inside of me that was like, “They’ll have to pull the jersey from me.� If you love playing baseball but it’s not your passion, then just enjoy it when you play. If it’s your passion, then give it all you’ve got, work hard, and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too small or don’t throw hard enough. You know, I’m one of the shortest right-handers in the big leagues, as far as starters go, and I have the slowest fastball in the league and I just don’t look like a big league pitcher. God’s blessed me and opened doors and I’ve pursued my heart and my passion, so I try to teach that to kids too.�

Though he has had limitations with size and had been told he’d never make it, one thing Paul will forever have is a heavenly Father who accepts him and continues to show how big of a God He truly is by working through those limitations and doubts. Paul sees his success not as a reflection of how great he is, but rather a reflection of the mighty power of the Almighty. All of us face obstacles and inevitably, all of us will fall at some point in life, but just as Paul has said and done in his life, we always have to get back up. If we look to the Lord, He is always reaching out his hand to pick us back up and restore us, so that He can continue His work in our lives.

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